A Firework Control Zone planned for a Glasgow area this year will not be in place after the council missed a key deadline.
Pollokshields was to be the first zone in the city where private use of fireworks would be banned on and around bonfire night.
In an administrative blunder, however, the council missed the date for when it had to issue a legal notification.
The notice had to be published 60 days before the date it was due to come into force.
But the council only published notice on September 9 meaning it would not be in place on November 5.
The zone was to have been in place from 1-10 November covering both public and private spaces including gardens.
Anyone who breached the order and let off fireworks during the period would have been committing a criminal offence.
The council has apologised to people in the area who had welcomed the news it was to be subject to a ban on fireworks over the Guy Fawkes night period.
A spokesperson for the council said: “We are very sorry that the firework control zone for Pollokshields cannot go ahead as we had hoped for this year’s Bonfire Night.
“The legal notice needed to create the zone was not issued in enough time to ensure it can come into effect as planned for between November 1 and November 10.
“Unfortunately this means the zone will not be legally enforceable during this time and implementation of the zone will now be deferred until next year.
“We have written directly to the members of the Pollokshields community who applied to have a firework control zone for their area and apologised for the disappointment this development will cause.
“We are working with our partners in the emergency services to address the community safety concerns that have been expressed about Bonfire Night in Pollokshields and other parts of the city.”
Following the legislation that allowed councils to put in place Firework Control Zones there were 19 applications from across the city.
It was decided that Pollokshields met the criteria for the restrictions to be imposed.
Residents are angry the zone will not happen this year.
Danny Phillips, Pollokshields resident and anti-fireworks campaigner, said: "It's difficult to say how furious we are.
"It has taken 6 years to drag the council and Scottish Government into taking action to protect communities like ours from the blight of fireworks. And now this legal blunder.
"It's not acceptable. It shows how little priority the council and others have given this issue.
"I am afraid 'sorry' doesn't cut it. What is the so-called council firework champion going to do for us.
"Where is the council leader to explain what has happened and what is she going to do about it?
"They must have contingency plans what are they?"
There are plans for a wider zone covering the whole city for future years.
A consultation on a proposal to introduce a city wide firework control for Glasgow will conclude on October 20.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel